Undergraduate students at the premier Indian Institutes of Technology could see their annual tuition fees hiked to Rs. 90,000 next year, after a committee of IIT directors recommended the 80 per cent increase. Students currently pay a hugely subsidised Rs. 50,000 per year.
A final decision will be taken by the full IIT Council — the institutes’ top decision making body which includes government representatives — on January 7.
The standing committee of the Council, which includes directors of the seven older IITs, met in Mumbai on Monday to discuss the proposal to revise the tuition fees that has been pending for over a year.
The panel also discussed last year’s recommendation by the Anil Kakodkar Committee for a much steeper fee hike to more than Rs. 2 lakh per year, in a bid to give the IITs more financial independence from the government. Given that an empowered task force is now working out the details to implement the Kakodkar Committee report, Monday’s recommendations were described as an “interim” measure.
Sources at the meeting indicated that their recommendation of a Rs. 40,000 fee hike may not be applicable to students from socially and economically weaker sections.
Loan scheme
The IIT Council has already given in-principle approval to the Kakodkar Committee’s recommendations to be implemented from 2013. A special loan scheme is being worked out so that students who cannot afford the increased fees have the option of paying back the extra burden after they finish their course, and find employment.
The IIT fee structure is not only much lower than that of top private universities, it is also less than the amount charged by other premier central government institutions of professional education such as the Indian Institutes of Management.
